OUR LOVE FOR THE CHURCH – OUR SUFFERING MOTHER (C6)
“Our love for the Church inspires us…” (Constitution 6)
As Eugene’s reflection on his experience of Jesus Christ as his Savior deepened, so did his awareness of the suffering of his Body, the Church, as a result of the aftermath of the French Revolution. He was impelled to respond:
During my seminary days, I had the thought of making myself as useful as possible to the Church, our Mother, for whom the Lord had given me the grace always to have a filial love. The destitution in which I saw her had been one of the deciding motives for my embracing the priestly state.
Eugene’s Mémoires, quoted in Rambert I p 47
Writing to his mother about the impossibility of ignoring the suffering of the Church:
Do you believe that a man who had a clear vision of the needs of the Church and who, despite the attraction God gives him to work at helping her, and other signs of His will, yet opted to sit back with arms folded, sighing softly to himself about all these evils, but not raising a finger to awaken even in the least degree men’s hardened hearts, would rest in all good conscience? What an illusion… it would be enough if in the course of one’s life one could help even a single soul to work out his salvation to make all one’s labors worthwhile.
Eugene’s letter to his mother, 4 April 1809, EO XIV n 50
I devoted myself to the Church because she was suffering persecution, was abandoned…
Eugene’s letter to his father, 7 December 1814, EO XV n. 129
Today as we are painfully aware that the Church continues to be persecuted, can we sit with arms folded sighing sadly?
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I look for a moment at the evolution of the world, of the Church – and of ourselves and there is within me a strong desire to move-with rather that to simply watch and judge others as being unworthy. Could there be anything worse than judging another/others of being unworthy of life. If I sit with my arms crossed, then I will become a chained and locked person; allowing myself to judge those who are unworthy of my company. Could there be anything more cruel and deadly than another telling us that we are not worthy or good enough? That we must go back to where we came from?
I think of the Good Samaritan along with the woman who wiped the sweaty and bloody face of Jesus as he carried the cross on the way to his actual death. We do not need police and soldiers to do our dirty work. Jesus was a rebel and so was St. Eugene de Mazenod who is often called a martyr of love.
Last Sunday’s Gospel from Luke 10.20 was all about how we are all sent out… not just a few so that they might drench their thirst for power and control. In today’s time we are reminded: “Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
A church that is evolving in much the same manner as our hearts.
Within our Church we all play a part of moving forward to new life. Constitution 6 reminds us that each day is the starting point of our ongoing evolution in and with the Church.